Archives for October 2008

This month’s Canadian federal election resulted in Canada’s third consecutive minority government, re-electing Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party. Now that the Conservatives have secured their place as the ruling government, it is expected that the Immigration Minister will announce her plan about how the recent Canadian immigration amendments will be implemented.

Though the Conservatives did not clinch enough seats to make up a majority government, their minority was strengthened to 143 seats, up from 127 in the 2006 election. Prime Minister Harper has called on all other political parties to work together with the Conservative government to protect the economy and to continue to build a strong Canada.

Maintaining their power, the Conservative government can now proceed with their planned immigration amendments. It is expected that Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) Minister Diane Finley will reveal the new immigration priorities early in November. At that time, all those Federal Skilled Worker applicants submitted since February 27th will learn how their applications will be treated.

From what has already been released, it seems that Federal Skilled Worker applicants will be selected based on whether their occupations are included in CIC’s list of 38 qualifying occupations. Those whose occupations are on the list and who meet all other requirements under the Federal Skilled Worker category will have their applications processed.
Those whose occupations are not on the list will be channeled to other immigration categories, such as the Provincial Nomination Programs (PNP), if they can qualify.
Minister Finley does not intend to reveal this list to the public until later in the fall.

Canadian immigrants are receiving a greater amount of representation in the House of Commons, as a growing number of MP’s are immigrants or children of immigrants. Sikh-Canadians, for example, actually have a greater number of MP’s in Parliament than their share of the Canadian population.

Immigration is among the most significant issues for these MP’s, along with the recognition of foreign work credentials.

Two recently released reports have shown that the children of Canadian immigrants are faring well in Canadian post-secondary institutions and therefore seeing increased success in the work force. Many Canadian families have a similar story of parents immigrating to Canada and working hard to make sure that their kids could stay in school. These efforts are paying off as their children are helping the family to realize the Canadian Dream.

According to a study from the Montreal-based Institute for Research on Public Policy, the real test of a society’s inclusiveness is the academic and professional success of immigrants’ children. The study shows a positive overall pattern for immigration in that most second-generation immigrants are more educated and in fact, earn more money than the children of Canadian-born parents.

A Statistics Canada report from the 2002 Ethnic Diversity Survey states that almost all children of immigrants finish high school (94 per cent), slightly above the completion rates of children with Canadian-born parents (88 per cent). At the university level, the gap widens with 38 per cent of children of immigrants completing their degrees compared to 28 per cent of those with Canadian-born parents.

However, the results vary significantly depending upon the nationality and culture of the immigrant parents. In terms of education, 70 per cent of children of Chinese immigrants have university degrees, 65 per cent of children of Indian parents, and 52 per cent of “other Asians”. Filipino immigrant children have a 40 per cent university completion rate. Children of Caribbean, Portuguese, and Latin American-born parents come in just below Canadian-born.

These greater educational achievements lead to higher incomes as well. Though some immigrants have language and adjustment obstacles to overcome, these disadvantages disappear with their children. For example, the grandchildren of Chinese-born immigrants earn on average close to $80,000 a year.

“Family values of immigrants tend to emphasize education and because of that, their children have high aspirations,” says Feng Hou, a Statistics Canada analyst.

The study also found that living in cities, where most new immigrants settle, also influences the perceived need for university education. Additionally, the parents’ level of education is a strongly correlated factor.

Along the same lines as the other provinces’ agreements, the Alberta-Philippines MOU contains information about comparability of credentials and qualifications, potential partnerships whereby Alberta would deliver education programs in the Philippines, the sharing of labour market information, and measures to ensure that workers are treated fairly.

“The Philippines has been a significant contributor to the economic success of Alberta as a major source of workers to the province,” said Hector Goudreau, Alberta Minister of Employment and Immigration. “This agreement is about working with the Philippine government to ensure Filipino workers understand what skills are in demand, and about protecting the interests of workers coming here.”

Goudreau, whose province has been suffering from labour shortages in many sectors, is pleased to welcome Filipino workers because of their “good work ethic, skills, flexibility, and adaptability.” Last year, Alberta welcomed close to 6,000 temporary foreign workers from the Philippines.

Canada has a need for 1.8 million foreign workers over the next ten years in various industries. The emphasis of the current recruitment program in the Philippines by the four provinces is on skilled workers in the construction, gas, health, and hospitality and tourism sectors.

The Government of British Columbia (BC) recently held its first job fair in Manila. Michael Chew, associate director of British Columbia’s Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) called it “match-making between the needs of the employers in BC and the available skills in the Philippines.” British Columbia business leaders and government officials plan to return to the Philippines next year for further skilled worker recruitment fairs.

Many of the overseas Filipino workers that the Philippines’ Department of Labour and Employment (DOLE) plans to transfer to Canada are currently working in Middle Eastern countries on contracts that will soon be expiring. According to Philippine Labour Secretary Marianito Roque, overseas Filipino workers earn higher wages in Canada than they do in the Middle East.